Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine looks back on first term and ahead to possible run for governor: Q&A

In an interview this week, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine acknowledged he is thinking about a run for governor in 2018. He's up for re-election first and faces a challenge this fall from Democrat David Pepper.

(Associated Press file)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Mike DeWine returned from the political wilderness in 2010, a former U.S. senator about to bide his time as Ohio's attorney general.

But while some suspected he simply would coast into retirement, DeWine, now 67, acknowledges he soon will be weighing whether to seek even higher office.

Northeast Ohio Media Group spoke with DeWine as part of its ongoing series on down-ballot candidates. NEOMG also has scheduled an interview with Pepper, so check back with cleveland.com later this week to read the Q&A with him.

Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

NEOMG: After losing re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2006, what prompted you to stage a comeback four years ago? And why the attorney general's job?

MD: As you know, I started as a county prosecutor [in Greene County 38 years ago]. As a young prosecutor, I used the Bureau of Criminal Investigation extensively. I saw that there were problems with BCI. Frankly, I thought I could fix them. I thought if I was successful, I could really make a difference as attorney general.

NEOMG: So how have you changed the status quo?

MD: No. 1 is changing the crime lab so that evidence is returned to police and processed quickly. DNA processing was one of the biggest problems. We have gone from 125 days to 23 days on average, and we have done that in spite of the fact that we have had a fourfold increase in the amount of DNA that comes into our office.

The third thing I would mention is something we did in conjunction with the governor. The pill mill problem – we went hard after that. We've taken the licenses of over 50 doctors. Heroin is a huge problem as well. We're doing things that haven't been done before. We set up a heroin unit. We are providing technology and expertise to local law enforcement when they're investigating heroin dealers. We've had success already in Lorain County.

NEOMG: What's been the single biggest achievement with the rape kit testing?

MD: Getting these all tested. These had been sitting around and hadn't been tested.

I took that protocol. This doesn't have the force of law. It's a protocol. I wrote letters to every sheriff and every chief of police in the state and said we have this protocol, I think these rape kits should be tested. When they started, nobody had a clue how many there were. We thought Cleveland had hundreds, then 2,000. We're at 4,600. All of these departments have been very cooperative about bringing them in.

NEOMG: Your opponent has raised questions about the relationship between campaign donations you've received and contracts your office has awarded. What policies would you favor to remove potential or perceived conflicts of interest?

MD: When there's criticism, we try to evaluate it. We've had criticism from editorial boards about this. One criticism was there was really no paper trail [to show how contracting decisions are made]. So we created a paper trail. Now, when a special counsel is hired for a statutory client, there's a form that has to be filled out.

Why was it appropriate for the Ohio attorney general to get involved in this case?

MD: When I ran for attorney general four years ago, one of my disagreements with [Democratic incumbent] Richard Cordray was with the Affordable Care Act, with Obamacare. Richard said he wouldn't get into it. I said I would.

People were given fair warning about that. Hobby Lobby is a related case. It had to do with the Affordable Care Act. I have been consistent with what I said I was going to do. To me, the case was a freedom of religion issue. Ultimately, the court agreed.

NEOMG: You appealed a court decision recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states, even as the tide turns in favor of marriage equality. Why?

MD: I do not have the luxury of deciding which provisions of the Ohio Constitution to defend. If voters in 2004 had passed a constitutional amendment legalizing gay marriage, I would have defended that just as well as I am today defending what they actually did. [Democrat and former attorney general] Lee Fisher in essence said the same thing with regard to a restrictive abortion law passed by the General Assembly.

I do that irrespective of my opinion.

NEOMG: Do you believe personally that marriage is between a man and a woman?

MD: Yeah, but that's nothing new.

NEOMG: I mentioned some of the hot-button issues your opponent likes to mention. What issues do you feel are not getting enough attention in this race?

MD: One is crimes against children. We are going after people involved in child pornography. Many times we find that they are actively molesting children.

No. 2 is what we have done with trying to encourage grassroots efforts for education in regard to the drug problem. I have been very vocal in saying this is a problem.

I think the third thing is, David Pepper is qualified for many jobs. But he's not qualified to be attorney general. He's never prosecuted a case. He's been a county commissioner and been on a city council, but he just doesn't have the experience.

NEOMG: Where some once feared you would use this post to ease into retirement, there's now speculation that you will run for governor in 2018. Where do you stand?

MD: We have a lot more to do in the Attorney General's Office. Let's take one election at a time. After this election, certainly I will be looking at other possibilities, making that decision whether I run for governor or not. But I am focused on this job. If elected, I'm going to serve four years and work hard at it.